Five Earths and Geomancy

In the Great Void, a pale yellow light, like a bolt of lightning piercing the night, streaked swiftly towards the confluence of the two rivers.

Chen Hai led the way, followed closely by more than ten streaks of light.

The Fire Demon King Li followed closely behind, the flippancy in his phoenix eyes long gone, replaced by an indescribable solemnity.

He gazed at the pale, sallow figure ahead, hesitated for a long time, and finally spoke:

"Your Highness, why retreat now? Why not strike first while the Great Qing envoys are still settling in? With that thing we retrieved from the Longchuan Grotto-Heaven, unless Taizong himself arrives, no matter which True Lord comes, Your Highness might still have a fighting chance!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Hai did not turn around.

The pale yellow light moved at an undiminished speed, and the wind howled through the Great Void.

After a long while, Chen Hai's voice finally came:

"This is not the time for me to attain enlightenment."

The words, just five, fell like a stone into a deep pool, creating ripples that spread but whose depths remained unseen.

Upon hearing Fire Demon King Li paused, pondering the five words carefully, seemingly understanding yet still puzzled:

"Does Your Highness mean... now is not the time for a decisive battle with the imperial court?"

Chen Hai still didn't turn around, but his voice held a hint of reminiscence:

"At present, Great Qing is not our enemy. They... are just here to take a look and won't actually make a move. Even if we go over there, someone will come to intercept us."

He paused, his tone slightly somber:

"Moreover, King Chen She was defeated precisely because he was too eager to declare himself king and too eager to contend with Qin. Although I now control most of Nanzhao, the Southern Frontier, and the Miao Frontier, my foundation is not yet stable, and the new territory has not been established. If I were to fight the court now, I would be repeating the mistakes of Chen She."

Upon hearing this, the Fire Demon King Li, though still unwilling, had to admit that Chen Hai's words made sense.

He was silent for a moment, then suddenly remembered something, glanced back at what was behind him, and said:

"Your Highness, where Zang Pu? He was in front of the stage just now, but he didn't come up."

Upon hearing this, Chen Hai finally paused.

He stopped at the edge of a Great Void void, standing with his hands behind his back, his pale yellow robe fluttering in the aftershocks of spiritual energy.

He turned his head, his gaze sweeping over the crowd behind him, and suddenly burst into laughter.

The smile was ambiguous, neither clearly mocking nor resigned.

"They were never meant to be mine."

The Fire Demon King Li taken aback, and the other demon kings behind him exchanged bewildered glances.

"Your Highness means..." the Fire Demon King Li lowered his voice, "That Zang Pu isn't one of ours?"

Chen Hai did not respond.

He simply cast his gaze toward the distant southern horizon, toward the direction of Miao Frontier, toward the small town, toward the stage.

He stared for a long while before looking away, the smile on his lips completely fading, replaced by his usual composure and indifference.

"He calls himself Zang Pu, meaning 'hiding true simplicity,' which is clearly Mysterious Gate approach. Look at what he has done."

Upon Fire Demon King Li's expression changed drastically:

"Since Your Highness knows he is a member of the Mysterious Gate, why not..."

"Why not kill him?" Chen Hai said calmly. "Although I don't know who he is, he's just a pawn. If I kill him, there will be others. Mysterious Gate wants to see is my actions along the way, and my reaction to that final act. If I were to harbor murderous intent, it would only confirm their judgment of me."

He paused, his gaze turning slightly cold, and his tone becoming somber:

"I refuse to kill. I insist on watching the whole show, even offering a reward and saying 'Another song!' The Mysterious Gate wants to see me in chaos, but I won't."

The demon kings behind him exchanged bewildered glances, finally realizing that the performance of "A Bed Full of Official Tablets" earlier hadn't been for nothing.

At this moment, Chen Hai said again:

"No need to ask anymore."

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure flickered, transforming into a faint pale yellow stream of light. In an instant, he had already crossed several Great Void currents of the void and was rushing towards the confluence of the two rivers, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Your Highness!

The Fire Demon King Li was greatly alarmed and hurriedly activated his Law Power.

However, Chen Hai's speed was far beyond their reach. In just a few breaths, the pale yellow light had completely disappeared from their sight.

The dozen or so streaks of light behind them all froze at the same time. Caught off guard, the demon kings stopped in their tracks, looking at each other in dismay.

"Your Highness, why did you suddenly..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

Deep within the Great Void, a clear voice, like the cry of a sword, pierced the air and reached the ears of every demon king.

"They run fast."

Upon hearing the familiar voice Fire Demon King Li abruptly turned around.

A streak of rainbow light burst forth from the depths of the Great Void, moving as fast as a shooting star, and closed in within a few breaths.

As the light faded, Su Yao's figure appeared.

He held the Vermilion Brightness Sword in his right hand, its nine heat-like patterns blazing like fire, and a reddish light flickering at the tip.

The clear sword light between his brows appeared and disappeared, like the quietest ray of light before dawn.

Behind him, Zilin, Yang Xiu, Ying Qi, Xuan Yan, Mo Li filed out, followed by Liu Yunhe and others, who completely blocked the path of the Remaining Rank demon kings.

Su Yao slowly raised the Vermilion Brightness Sword, its tip pointing Fire Demon King Li.

"You beast," he spoke, his voice echoing like the clashing of swords in the Great Void, "I spared your life at the confluence of the two rivers, and let you escape again at the Zhao Household. Today, this is your death day."

Upon Fire Demon King Li's expression changed drastically, Crimson Sun Pendant suddenly lit up, forming a layer of crimson fire curtain in front of him.

With a flick of his left hand, the flaming whip "Sweep Away Remaining Ashes" solidified in his palm, its body covered in dense fire patterns, like a fiery serpent raging wildly in the Great Void.

"Su Yao! Do you really think I'm afraid of you?!"

Su Yao did not answer.

He raised his right hand, and a seven-colored rainbow light quietly shone from his fingertip. At first, it was as small as a bean, then as large as a stream, and then as large as a waterfall. A rainbow light shot up from his fingertip and went straight into the depths of the Great Void.

Within that rainbow light, countless colors intertwined, each layer flowing, permeating, and connecting, like hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea, or ten thousand paths converging into a thoroughfare.

Wherever the rainbow light passed, the Central Plains the Great Void was gradually illuminated, penetrated, and clarified.

"Color Pierces the Thoroughfare"

Su Yao's voice echoed through the Great Void.

The rainbow light pierced straight into the Fire Demon King Li had transformed into. The sea of fire, illuminated by the rainbow light, melted away inch by inch, like thin ice meeting the sun. Within the rainbow light, hundreds of murderous intent lurked simultaneously, and hundreds of pathways were simultaneously laid out.

A rainbow of light is a Heavenly Net; a rosy glow is a celestial thoroughfare.

The Fire Demon King Li's pupils shrank sharply.

He sensed that Sword Intent —a familiar, ingrained familiarity.

Six months ago at the Zhao Household, it was this very Sword Intent that pierced through his right shoulder.

But now, this Sword Intent is even sharper than it was half a year ago.

It's quieter now. It's colder now.

Like the quietest ray of light before dawn, silent and still, yet it sends a shiver down one's spine from the depths of Spirit Platform.

He dared not hold back in the slightest.

Suddenly, the Crimson Sun Pendant was unleashed, Li Fire fiery energy surged wildly from the pendant, condensing into a layer of crimson fire curtain.

The fire curtain was several feet thick, with fire patterns as dense as scales. It was his natal fire curtain, which he had painstakingly cultivated for thousands of years. Even a full-force attack from an ordinary Purple Mansion Middle Stage cultivator might not be able to break it.

But the curtain of fire was like thin ice meeting the sun in the face of Su Yao's Sword Intent.

The Autumn Steed Sword was extremely fine, quiet, and clear, silently piercing through the curtain of fire. Its Sword Intent burst forth, piercing through the Fire Demon King Li.

The instant the Sword Intent entered his body, the Fire Demon King Li felt as if thousands of fine needles were piercing his entire right arm at the same time. From his shoulder blade to his fingertips, every inch of his meridians was shattered inch by inch in the torrent of Sword Intent.

"You..."

The demon king grunted and retreated several miles, a long tear appearing on his crimson robe, from which blood gushed out.

He glanced down at the deep, bone-revealing sword wound on his right shoulder, and a genuine fear finally surfaced in his phoenix eyes.

But Su Yao didn't give him a chance to catch his breath.

With a swift movement, a flash of Golden Light Across the Land, and he was already behind the Fire Demon King Li. Before the golden light dissipated, the Vermilion Brightness Sword swept out horizontally. The Balmy Wind heat poured down like a rainbow, and nine heat patterns lit up simultaneously, blazing like fire. The heat, carrying the Sword Intent, swept over and completely evaporated the layer of crimson flames around the Fire Demon King Li.

The fire was evaporated, leaving the Demon King completely exposed.

At the same time, Su Yao flipped his left hand and slashed with the Autumn Steed Sword. A clear sword light rose from below, like moonlight spreading out, like the breaking of dawn, silently entering the Fire Demon King Li's brow.

Sword Intent poured in.

The Fire Demon King Li's body suddenly stiffened.

He seemed frozen in place, the flame patterns on his crimson robe lighting up and then fading away one by one.

He looked down at the sword wound on his chest, then looked up at Su Yao. The fear in his phoenix eyes gradually dissipated, replaced by something indescribable—disbelief, resentment, and confusion—which finally coalesced into an emptiness.

He opened his mouth.

"I..."

The sound was cut off as soon as it left the throat.

His physical body began to shatter from the sword scar between his eyebrows. First, fine cracks spread like a spider web to his limbs. Then, countless crimson flames surged out of his body, like a volcano that had been suppressed for a thousand years erupting at once.

The flames twirled, coalesced, and exploded in the air, transforming into a sky full of crimson fragments, like a grand meteor shower that burst, splashed, and dissipated in the Great Void.

His right arm was the first to disintegrate.

The right shoulder, which had just been pierced by the Autumn Steed Sword, was now reduced to a wisp of crimson smoke.

Next came the left arm, both legs, and the torso, which turned into flames inch by inch and returned to nothingness inch by inch.

Finally, the head was completely destroyed, its phoenix eyes wide open, and the last half of a word that hadn't been uttered still lingering at the corner of its mouth.

The crimson fragments surged in the Great Void for several breaths before gradually dimming and dissipating.

In the end, only a faint wisp of crimson remained, like embers drifting in the wind, dissipating into the depths of the Great Void.

The Fire Demon King Li has fallen.

Su Yao sheathed his sword and stood there, his gaze sweeping across the battlefield.

Zilin had already drawn her sword to meet a black-armored demon king. The demon king's body was filled with Sha Qi as black as ink, but it could not move an inch under the Purple Gauze Umbrella.

The Three Yangs patterns on the umbrella surface suddenly lit up, and a purple-gold light curtain descended, trapping the black-armored demon king within it.

Zilin's figure appeared and disappeared in the purple smoke, and her long sword emerged from the smoke, its tip precisely piercing the Demon King's brow.

Before the demon king could even let out a scream, he was swallowed up by the purple-gold light.

Yang Xiu's golden bell hung high in the Great Void, its gray-purple Profound Qi surging like a raging sea. A demon king with a blue face and fangs tried to escape from the side, but was enveloped by the ripples of Profound Qi emanating from the golden bell.

Calamity befell him, and karma entangled him. The demon king felt his spiritual energy suddenly stagnate, as if he were trapped in a quagmire.

Xuan Yan attacked from the side, his silvery-white Comet Light carrying starlight, creating a "Falling Star Rain" that blocked any escape route.

Starlight rained down, pinning the demon king to the Great Void. Silvery Comet Light surged into his wounds, disintegrating his demonic body inch by inch.

Ying Qi and Mo Li joined forces to surround the two demon kings.

Behind Mo Li, the invisible phantom of the Dao Palace appeared and disappeared, with four beams of yellow light hanging down from the four corners of the palace, locking the two demon kings in place; Ying Qi's Wu Earth energy condensed into five wisps of yellow smoke that swirled around him, cutting off the demon kings' attempts to escape one by one.

With their combined strength, the two demon kings perished simultaneously.

Liu Yunhe and Li Siyi intercepted a fleeing demon king from the west. Liu Yunhe's Wood Qi coiled around the demon king like spring vines, trapping it in a net of vines; Li Siyi's Earth Qi condensed into an earthen wall, sealing off its escape route. With their combined strength, the demon king didn't even have time to struggle before being strangled to death on the spot by the Wood Qi.

Han Ziyi and Zhu Xuejie guarded the east side. Han Ziyi Kan Water energy was as deep as an abyss, and a water curtain stretched across the Great Void; Zhu Xuejie's Radiant Fire energy was as blazing as fire, forcing another demon king into the water curtain. Water and fire intertwined, and the demon king struggled left and right, but in the end, he had nowhere to escape and was killed by the two of them together.

Zhang Ziyan and Yang Nan guarded the south side. Zhang Ziyan's aura of Cang Metal surged like gold dust, engulfing a demon king in his "treasury"; Yang Nan Subterranean Water, striking from the hidden current. The demon king felt its feet sink and was dragged to the bottom of the water, never to rise again.

Seeing the situation was dire, the other demon kings each activated their escape lights and scattered in all directions. However, Yang Xiu's golden bell was already high in the Great Void, and the gray-purple Profound Qi surged like a raging sea, completely sealing off the Great Void within a radius of hundreds of miles. Xuan Yan's Comet Light was like a net, Ying Qi's Wu Earth was like a wall, Mo Li's Dao Palace was like an abyss, Zilin's Purple Gauze Umbrella was like a canopy. The five spiritual forces intertwined like a net covering the sky and the earth.

The seven or eight demon kings' escape lights were intercepted one by one.

Various strange phenomena of the Great Dao intertwined, surging, exploding, and dissipating in the Great Void. There were crimson flames like a meteor shower, emerald green wood energy like vines collapsing, ghostly blue water light like a waterfall cascading, and earthy yellow dust like the earth being overturned.

From the perspective of the present world, strange phenomena are intertwined at this moment, and half of the sky is dyed into a magnificent color.

In a short time, all the demon kings who followed Chen Hai were killed.

In the Great Void, only the lingering echoes of various spiritual energies continued to surge endlessly.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred.

Deep within the Great Void, five earthen-yellow rays of light simultaneously emerged, like five earthen dragons coiled in the void, each emanating a distinct Daoist aura.

One Womb Earth is like a mother's womb, warm and heavy; another Gen Earth is like a mountain, solid and unshakable; another Wu Earth is like yellow smoke billowing, with five-colored smoke swirling around; another Sacrificial Earth is like a village drum announcing a festival, with red sound waves appearing and disappearing; and another Proclaiming Earth is like the earth being overturned, with pale yellow light surging like a tide.

Five beams of light emerged from the depths of the Great Void, slowly rotating before converging at the confluence of the two rivers.

Zilin gazed at the five beams of light, her eyes narrowing slightly, and slowly spoke:

"He is Earth Master's Dao from Five Villages Temple."

Upon hearing this, Su Yao's gaze shifted slightly.

The Earth Master's Dao involves cultivating the Five Earths, including burial, tomb exploration, burial site control, vein tracing, and boundary setting, all originating from and yet controlling the Earth Virtue Earth Virtue.

Its Daoist essence is like the Five Earths returning to their proper places, or like the Spirit Root of heaven and earth in the Five Villages Temple, its roots reaching the nine springs and its crown covering the three realms.

Just as the Five Earths energies were about to converge at the confluence of the two rivers, another aura emerged from the depths of the Great Void.

The aura was neither earth nor metal, neither water nor fire; it faintly resembled the presence of mountains and rivers, yet it was not mountains and rivers.

That aura was like a roc spreading its wings, soaring straight up ninety thousand miles, its wings like clouds hanging from the sky, treating the Great Void as the Northern Sea, manipulating mountains and rivers with the power of geomancy.

The energy of Feng Shui.

The Geomancy Dao.

The aura of feng shui surged forth from the depths of the Great Void, like an invisible dragon vein winding its way through the earth, or a roc plucking at the warp and weft in the sky, stirring up the spiritual energy at the confluence of the two rivers like a raging sea.

Immediately afterwards, the two wondrous forces collided.

The radiance of the Five Earths and the energy of Feng Shui collided suddenly in the Great Void, without sound, without breath, without light, without glimmer.

But in that collision, the Great Void within a radius of hundreds of miles trembled slightly, like a giant net suddenly pulled by an invisible hand, taut out every inch of spiritual energy.

The earth churns and the feng shui surges.

Under the guidance of the geomancer's energy, the Five Earths solidify like Ginseng Fruit Tree, its roots firmly planted in the nine springs, unmoving; geomancy is like a roc spreading its wings, with feng shui transforming into wings that reach the sky, surging and swirling at the confluence of the two rivers, attempting to disrupt and deviate from the natural order of the Five Earths returning to their source.

The two collided, like two undercurrents writhing, entwining, and tearing each other apart in the depths of the Great Void.

In the Great Void, Su Yao gazed silently at the colliding phenomena.

Zilin and Yang Xiu, along with the others, each occupied a corner, their gazes fixed in that direction, their expressions solemn.

The radiance of the Five Earths and the energy of feng shui intertwined and eroded each other in the sky above the confluence of the two rivers.

Like two Dharma Form rivers colliding fiercely at their estuary, neither can swallow the other.

There is a word cloud:

The pale yellow light vanished, tearing through the sky; the demon king looked back, his hatred boundless.

Vermilion Radiance's sword extinguished the Li Fire, and the rainbow light illuminated all paths.

Purple smoke, golden bells, and a comet fall; the Five Earths return to their source, and a mysterious wind arises.

The roc spreads its wings and shakes the pillar of heaven; the two rivers meet and their struggle continues.

Feng shui masters vie for a spot; who truly holds the reins of destiny?

Do not underestimate the scale of the game of chess in the human world; the outcome here is already different.